[open] all natural and technological processes proceed in such a way

[corundrum]

Characters: Padparadscha and you!
Date: August in general
Location: Streets of Aifaran, one of the Tifaut places of worship, Dreaming Bridge
Situation: August catch-all feat. Justice 2, Faith 5 and Meta 3 affinities. Feel free to hit me up on Plurk if you'd like a closed prompt instead!
Warnings/Rating: None currently.


[A: Mis-Knighted]

[The concept of "knighting" doesn't exist in Padparadscha's world, so they initially decide to play along with the decrepit ex-Sentryman's apparent intent to do it to them. It mostly just seems like a little bit of fun, and maybe they can learn something about customs in this world.

It turns out to be much more of a ceremony than they expected, though, and while they don't seem to mind the wait, they glance with some amusement over to anyone who's stopped by the spectacle of a rambling old man with a rusty sword laid on the shoulders of a resolute rock person.]

This is a lot of words for a...honestly, I'm not sure what it is this ceremony is for. "Knighting"?

--

[B: Meditation]

[While Padparadscha hasn't given a great deal of time to the various faiths of Aifaran, they've been around that area more in the last month, so it's not overly surprising when one of the Tifaut members invites them to a meditation session. Considering their faith involves the idea of repairing the world through belief, of course Padparadscha was going to express some curiosity about it after hearing about Rutile's questionable decision to explore the Barrier.

The most surprising part is that the meditation actually seems to work. Padparadscha is a calm person by nature, but even they can feel something that permeates deeper than that, rejuventating and energising. It's an odd feeling, a bit like when they first wake up from a long sleep, and they depart the impromptu gathering area for the meditation with a wave of the hand and a luxurious stretch towards the open sun.]

Ah, feels like I've taken in a whole day's worth of sunlight at once. It's good~

--

[C: The One With Sick Horns]

[On one hand, Padparadscha doesn't actually need beauty products considering they're all rock and a layer of skin-tone paint. On the other, the owners of that beauty shop had been pretty enthusiastic about the idea of testing their products on a kind of person they'd never seen before, and Padparadscha isn't nearly as fussed about wasting time as living things are.

The very curly horns are an odd bonus, though. They're not rock, but some kind of organic material, Padparadscha assumes, though they're surprisingly light for their size. Still, they're new and very large, so Padparadscha can be found in front of one of the mirrors in the Dreaming Bridge shortly after the incident, tapping across the horns as if to discern their makeup and response to touch.]

What funny things... [They seem more amused than anything, honestly.]

Comments

[acicular]

The first indication that Antarcticite is no longer alone comes in the form of the tell-tale click of stone against concrete. They turn, looking up from their yimo, and freeze at the sight that greets them. Padparadscha had an undeniable presence even while trapped in their years of slumber, and so to find themselves face to face with the gem who had occupied so many of Rutile's waking hours, and had always been something of an inaccessible mystery, leaves Antarcticite momentarily dumbstruck.

They were never given occasion to get to know any of the other gems at the school well enough to consider them friends or mentors (perhaps with the exception of Rutile)--but even for Antarcticite, it would be difficult not to idolize a competent warrior like Padparadscha just a little bit.

"Padparadscha..!" comes their startled exclamation, before they struggle to regain their collected composure. They straighten up, smoothing an errant wrinkle from their uniform shirt, and then gesture back at the closed door. "I wasn't trying to be a bother," they insist, "I only wanted to ask them some questions about someone who's gone missing."

[corundrum]

Padparadscha gives a faintly amused laugh at the reaction, though beneath it all, there's an unusual feeling gathering. It's not quite pity, but it's something sympathetic - they're one of the gems that had been lost, and yet here they are again, whole yet beyond the reach of home or anyone they truly know. Rutile and Padparadscha haven't exactly had the opportunity to become close to most of the younger gems.

They raise a brow at the matter of looking for a missing person, though, before they think on it and their expression clears up a little.

"Would that be Bakura...? I've spoken to that one once or twice before, but I'm afraid I have no idea where he might have gone if the Dreaming hasn't returned him to his place," Padparadscha admits, tilting their sword to one side as they consider it. They certainly don't know the human well, and he seems one to keep to himself for the most part regardless.

"He was interested in Dreaming legends and objects, so perhaps he may even have made an unwise decision to follow up on one."

[acicular]

Truthfully, beyond Adamant-sensei, who among the gems does Antarcticite really know? The majority of their encounters with their peers involved coaxing a few of the sleepwalkers back to bed, or sitting up with Rutile on the odd night when the doctor was awake and unable to rest. Their partnership with Phos had been brief but meaningful; Antarcticite had never considered themselves mentor material, but it had felt strangely natural to work with Phos. Before it had all ended, of course.

They try not to think about the Nascent Beach very often.

And they don't have to, at least for this moment, because what Padparadscha says gives them pause. A look of confusion steals across their features. "What do you mean, if the Dreaming hasn't returned him?" Evidently, the Bridge staff hadn't imparted all of this world's necessary knowledge upon Antarcticite before they ventured out into the world on their own.

[corundrum]

Ah, so Antarcticite also had some difficulties with information. Padparadscha came quite early for the current group, so it had been more natural for them to wander to the Dreaming Bridge, but Rutile hadn't been very patient about getting information either, and perhaps Antarc just never quite made it there or didn't remain long enough before coming out on this mission.

They tilt their sword back a little on their shoulders, considering how best to explain it. "The Dreaming is the thing that brings us to this world, so they say, but it's also what takes people away from it at times as well. Sometimes people return home with no rhyme or reason to it. I think perhaps that's a possibility the people who know them don't want to admit to."

And instead post frantically about who's seen the person recently until they're convinced of it being the case. The concerns of living things are surprisingly small sometimes.

[acicular]

"Ah..."

It's the sort of response one offers after some confusion has been cleared up, but for a moment Antarcticite stands beside Padparadscha with a look on their face that is difficult to parse as anything other than dismay. To vanish back to their own world, now, means returning to the moon, for they cannot imagine that Phosphophyllite was able to free themselves from their alloy prison in time to intervene on their behalf.

Death isn't something that a gem has any reason to fear, but the unknown, trapped in the grasp of the only enemy Sensei had ever taught them to be wary of--

"...then I suppose Bakura won't return, unless the Dreaming sees fit to bring him back." They look down at his face on the screen of their yimo, his expression as strange as anything else in this place, then switch the device off.

A beat, before they admit, "There's nothing for me but the moon, if it sends me back."

[corundrum]

Padparadscha's expression becomes somewhat unreadable at that admission. They're aware, at least, that Antarc was one of the ones taken in their most recent absence. But being taken to the moon has a somewhat different meaning to some of them now, and Padparadscha lifts their sword from their shoulders to rest it on its tip in front of them instead, looking up towards the sky.

"Perhaps things will change in our time here. Who knows? They say time does not pass, but all manner of strange things can happen here, it seems."

Of all of them, Antarc would have the smallest chance of being repaired, they think. Their unique makeup is more of a curse than it is a blessing, similarly to Padparadscha.

"You have opportunities here, nonetheless. It's a shame to only be able to live half of a life, isn't it?"

[acicular]

Strange things indeed--that Antarcticite is solid at such outrageously warm temperatures is strange enough in and of itself, to say nothing of the other peculiar forces at work around them. Antarcticite manages a small smile at Padparadscha's suggestion and looks down, almost abashed by their own concerns.

"Yes," they agree, a little chagrined that the opportunities before them had to be articulated so clearly--and by Padparadscha, too. Of all the gems to behave like such a junior in front of...! "You're right, of course. Rutile said you would have wisdom to share--I'm sorry for my shortsightedness."

They look once more at their closed yimo before resolutely slipping it into their pocket and straightening. A moment later, though, and some of their uncertainty returns. "It's--uncomfortable, not being of use to someone. How have you and Rutile managed here?"

[corundrum]

That gets a slight laugh out of Padparadscha. Considering their last conversation, they imagine Rutile would be only too eager to have them place their wisdom on someone else's shoulders.

"Well, Rutile enjoys the undiscovered and unquantified, quack doctor and all. So they've been seeking discovery in their time here. Me..." Padparadscha trails off thoughtfully, then shrugs. "It's been a long time since I've been obliged to anyone, strictly speaking. I haven't been awake long enough for it. So now that I have the opportunity, I'd prefer to just live."

It seems likely their time here is going to be little more than a blink in the grand scheme of things, but it's an opportunity to take while it's there, and not only appreciate when it's already gone.

[acicular]

Should Padparadscha look towards Antarcticite now as they speak, they'll find the younger gem a rather rapt and captive audience, as though Antarcticite hopes to glean something from what Padparadscha says to ease a fear within them that is difficult to name. At length, they make a sound almost like a scoff, but it's far too polite and respectful to be something like that, and there's no derision or moodiness that accompanies Antarcticite's very serious downcast stare. "It sounds like such an easy thing to do when you say it," they reply quietly, and fidget two gloved fingers against the hilt of the sword still strapped to their hip.

It's clear that there is still something else on their mind, and once they finally summon up the courage to say it, maybe their hesitation is understandable. "Do you ever worry," they begin quietly, "about not waking up when you go to sleep here?" Translation: they clearly do, and are struggling with how to manage it.

[corundrum]

"Is that a strange thing?" Padparadscha sounds somewhat amused at the notion that they make things sound easy, though people do seem to get that impression off them a lot. They have a reputation for it, if anything.

Antarc's concern is a valid one, though, and Padparadscha's expression dips into something more sympathetic. Another one like them, in a way, as Phos had been when they'd last woken up.

"Quite a lot, actually," Padparadscha admits, no shame in it. "It's natural when your state is as precarious as yours or mine. But if you linger on what-ifs for too long, you forget to live the life that's in front of you already, and perhaps if it ever did happen, you would have missed what chance you had."

[acicular]

"...It's natural when your state is as precarious as yours or mine. But if you linger on what-ifs for too long, you forget to live the life that's in front of you already, and perhaps if it ever did happen, you would have missed what chance you had."

Is it comforting or frightening to know that Padparadscha, too, sleeps each night wondering if they'll even wake up in the morning? Maybe a bit of both, if the combination of Antarcticite's slight frown, and the lessening of tension in their shoulders is any indication. But there is sage advice to be found in Padparadscha's words, too, if Antarcticite can bring themselves to accept it.

For a gem, that might require several human lifetimes of perseverance.

"Of course," they agree regardless. "Thank you--" 'Teacher,' they nearly say, but stop themselves abruptly before making such an embarrassing (and revealing) mistake. They are no junior to consciously go out of their way to seek out a replacement for Adamant now that they are suddenly without him... but they would similarly have to be as empty-headed as Phos not to admit to themselves that they miss him, and are rudderless without the guidance and companionship that he provided them during their long and lonely tenure as winter's keeper.

Still, that is not Padparadscha's burden to bear. After all, how many centuries of their long life have they actually been able to enjoy? Antarcticite fumbles clumsily for something more to say, to impart to Padparadscha their gratitude without placing any expectations upon them, and comes up short. Instead, they simply frown earnestly and say again, "thank you," quietly.

[corundrum]

Padparadscha has some suspicion of what it is Antarc almost says before catching themselves, and though their expression doesn't change, they certainly note it. It's not surprising, considering Antarc's isolation compared to any other gem, the unique condition which had made Sensei their primary source of guidance and support, but it's certainly not their plan to become a replacement.

It's hard to want to be at all when they consider Sensei's nature. It's a complicated situation, and not one Antarc should be introduced to lightly considering the high regard they hold him in.

So for now, they laugh, tilting their head back over their shoulder. "I wouldn't think about that sort of thing for too long if you can help it. For now, you have the chance to wonder and learn about new things, and exist in a different way to what you did before. It may be strange and even discomfiting, but it's certainly an opportunity."